


Time Disorder

by 5ColorsInMyLife



Series: Doctor Who [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-10 10:38:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15289710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5ColorsInMyLife/pseuds/5ColorsInMyLife
Summary: What do you do when you bump into a weird madman on the streets, who looks at you like the whole world no longer holds any secrets for him? You follow him.





	1. The Odd Madman And His Apologies

There had been a time when all I could think about was leaving home. But since living in a different house nearby was not enough, I had preferred moving all the way to England instead. My parents wanted to believe that I only came here to try something new, for some time. But the truth was that I was looking to have a fresh start. Something that Mum, with her frequent phone calls, still did not understand.

"Yes, Mum... I will. And no I haven't seen Gale in two weeks..." I mumbled on my way home. My own home. In England. But London was big, and implied a lot of walking on a daily basis. Mum knew that, of course. And maybe I didn't mind her distracting me with her stories while I was walking. But there were times... where I was absent, without meaning to be. Distracted by some sudden wild thought, and the only thing that forced me to come back to the present was Mum's impatient tone when she said my name. Too often it happened. Too often I dreamed. It always offended Mum, and maybe that was fair enough. 

"I'll tell him, don't worry. Okay? See you soon then, say hello to Dad. Love you!" 

I sighed as put my phone back in my pocket once the call ended, and resumed walking down the busy streets. The city was always crowded at this hour, and part of me must have been initially attracted by all this buzzing activity. But that was then, and maybe London was slowly starting to lose its appeal...

"Hey, watch out!" I shouted as a stranger suddenly bumped into me.   
  
The sudden collision surprised me so much that I dropped my bags: I hadn't seen him at all and if I didn't know any better, I would have said that he really did appear all of a sudden, out of nowhere. Still, the streets were busy and overcrowded, and bumping into someone was anything but unusual. 

The stranger with spiky brown hair and a long coat turned around, but didn't react. He just stood there for a while, gazing at me with his eyebrows furrowed. Then finally, he snapped out of his thoughts, blinking rapidly as he properly acknowledged me, and the contents of my bag spread all over the pavement. Even so, he didn't stop giving me that funny look, and it puzzled me so much that no other words came out of my mouth.

"I'm so sorry. I really am."  He mumbled and knelt to the ground in order to quickly help me gather my stuff. He was visibly in a hurry. 

For a brief moment, he turned his head and glanced over his shoulder, gazing at something, or someone, but when I followed his gaze, there was nothing more but the same flow of pedestrians all around us. He gave a short sniff and eventually stood up, again distracted by his surroundings, as though something was hiding among the rest of us, but there was  _nothing_. When I finally thought myself able to utter a word after this strange and confusing collision, he partly turned around, as if to carry on, until he remembered that I was still there, and still avidly staring at him like he was some sort of madman.

"I'm sorry. I'm genuinely sorry for everything. Really."

"It's... fine? They're just bags. No real harm done."

"Oh, yeah... your bags. Right." He slowly nodded his head, one eye narrowed in suspicion. "Just know that I'm sorry, okay? Just don't forget. Don't... forget. Alright?"

It was my turn to blink rapidly as I shook my head. If only doing that really helped understand what on Earth he was going on about.

"Forget what? What are you-"

"Nothing, never mind... I'm just babbling, really. But listen, I've gotta go. I'm in a bit of a hurry, so..."

"Right..."

"Mmhm." He nodded. "Have a nice day!"

"You too. Wait- no. Wait!" 

He didn't hear me; he was already running away, and I found myself running after him, carrying the bags with me. I didn't truly know what I was doing. Why did I even care about this man? He was so odd, so peculiar. Anyone else would have thought him untrustworthy. Dangerous, even. But here I was, running after him. And for a second, I wondered if  _this_  was why I was following him. For the risk. The danger. The oddness. The thrill that came with temporarily suspending my mundane routine to follow something I hoped was unique. 

But then something happened. Something that surprised me so much that stopped in my tracks and froze; He looked behind him, again. And deep down I knew why he did it. I knew it was because he wanted to check whether I was following him. And although the worried, somewhat funny look on his face didn't disappear, there was no surprise in his eyes as he saw me, as though he had anticipated my impulsive decision to run after him.

The next thing I knew, he was running away from me again, down the streets, behind the corner, until he got out of my sight. I picked up my pace and as I reached the spot where I had last seen him, an indescribable noise reached my ears. A wheezing sound, perhaps of an old machine nearby. I had no reason to let that noise guide me, no reason to think it could be linked to him, but I didn't listen to reason. I listened to the noise and listened as it became louder. I thought I was close to the source, until a gust of wind threw me off, and when it calmed down, there was nothing there but an empty alley that was closed-off at the other end. With no way to escape.

No wind. No noise. No machine. And no odd madman.


	2. Odd Things

 

It had been six months since that incident, and although I did think about the strange man fordays, weeks even, I did not see him again after that day. Forgetting about it felt impossible for a very long time. People laughed whenever I told them what had happened on the streets, how silly I must have looked chasing with my bags after a stranger who eventually disappeared around the corner. Their reaction was logical enough, but even if I forced myself to tell it as a funny anecdote, I could never truly shake off the uneasiness the encounter had given me. I gave up the thought of possibly running into him again after a while, because that was the only thing I could do at that time.

 

I carried on with my routine as anyone else would have, wondering more and more whether I had really given my life the fresh start I had dreamed of after moving to England. If I had once believed that moving to a different country would be enough to start all over, it truly didn't feel enough anymore. Not that living here was bad. But maybe a sense of disappointment was slowly seeping into my everyday life, and I couldn't help but think that this disappointment had properly appeared after the odd, unresolved encounter with the tall man. Even Ethan, my closest friend, could sense something. He believed I was growing tired of everything, but it was the opposite. I was growing restless. The uneasiness hadn't faded even if I had given up on the idea of seeing that man again.

 

"Alright." Ethan mumbled, scratching his head as we both stared at the credits of the movie we had just finished watching on TV. "That was... something."

 

"Something as in scary, you mean." I teased with a smile. "Yeah. That's what they usually aim for with horror movies."

 

"I'm not sure why you wanted to watch this kind of movie, of all things. At night. You do realise I still have to walk home in the dark?" He arched a brow, as if to check whether I was indeed aware of that fact.

 

I looked up at him and rested my head against his shoulder, lips puckered into an exaggerated pout.

 

"If you hear some noise behind you, here's a tip: don't look back, because chances are, there's something there, lurking in the dark."

 

He narrowed his eyes at me accusingly.

 

"I hate you."

 

"I do try my best." I grinned, before hopping to my feet, glancing at the time on my phone and realising that it was already past midnight.

 

"Lunch tomorrow?" Ethan slurred as he let out a yawn and lazily stood up, stretching his arms and back. I followed him to the front door of my apartment and opened it for him.

 

"Of course."

 

He was about to move past me to leave, but stopped right at my side and looked at me insistently, as if waiting for me to spill my deepest secrets.

 

"Why a horror movie, all of a sudden?"

 

I blinked. "Why not?"

 

"I thought you said they creeped you out. But you didn't even blink throughout the whole thing."

 

I went silent, unable to give him the answer he was looking for. I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal all of a sudden, and if I had known, I would have probably suggested something else.

 

"Are you okay?" He insisted, and I let out a sigh in response.

 

"Are you really asking me if I'm okay just because I put on a horror movie? IfI had known that it bothered you so much, I would have chos-"

 

"That's not why I'm asking... you know what I mean."

 

"It's late, Ethan. I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me. And if anyone is being weird right now, it's you. So... Go home and sleep that weirdness off... As much as you can."

 

I forced a gentle smile on my face, but he saw the stubborn look I gave him as his lips parted to add something else, so he simply nodded instead. He returned the smile, whispered a goodnight, and left. I heard him walk down the stairs before I closed the door and made my way back to the TV to turn it off.

 

I couldn't help but feel as though he had been meaning to ask me if I was okay for a long time now. There was no way a simple horror movie would have raised a question like that if something hadn't already been bothering him before that. Tonight's plans had only added to his curiosity. Had I really been behaving unlike myself then, without noticing? The only thing that had ever truly been on my mind more than usual was the odd encounter from six months ago, and if Ethan had really caught up on something like that, perhaps it was a sign that I really needed to stop thinking about it, for good. It couldn't keep having a toll on my own well-being like that. It was ridiculous.

 

With a light shake of my head, I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off, but I had barely put it down when a violent bright light suddenly shone through the window and blinded me for a few seconds.

 

"What the-" I shielded my eyes with my arm, stepping closer to the window and looking outside in an attempt to find the source. But before anything else even became visible, a loud bang resonated, followed by a scream. A scream I was almost certain I recognised.

 

My eyes widened in shock as soon as it hit me.

 

"ETHAN!"


End file.
